NASCAR Driver Visits Whitehouse

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NASCAR and Leavine Family Racing driver Kasey Kahne visited the Whitehouse Junior High construction site and Whitehouse High School earlier today to speak with construction workers and students on his way to the 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 race at the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

“I’ve done a lot of events with high school, junior high, and elementary school students and I really enjoy it,” Kahne said. “Over the years, I’ve been able to do a lot of community events trying to give back all over the United States. It’s always been really good to give back to the community.”

Kahne visited construction workers at a luncheon this morning, where he discussed his NASCAR background and answered questions from the crowd. He also brought a #95 show car for workers to take photos with.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to see what drivers are like in their everyday lives,” Leavine Family Racing crew member Bob Moore said. “All that most people get to see is what drivers are like on TV. Kasey is a really nice guy and it’s great for people to get to meet him.”

After the luncheon, Kahne visited WHS where he, along with three other members of Leavine Family Racing, held a question-and-answer session with students and faculty members. Only a select group of CTE students were chosen to participate because of their interests in fields associated with the NASCAR industry.

“It was really awesome being chosen to meet Kasey Kahne and learn more about other sides of the race car industry,” junior Jack Agnew said. “I’m really interested in technology, and they talked about the technology aspect of the business. It was really cool learning about other jobs in the field, especially in NASCAR.”

Members of WRL Contractors, Ltd. and Whitehouse I.S.D. wanted a way to thank the construction crew for their work on building multiple structures around town. Since WRL Contractors, Ltd. is a primary partner with Leavine Family Racing, they decided to surprise workers with Kahne’s appearance.

“We wanted to do something nice for the sub-contractors, and since the majority of construction workers are NASCAR fans, we wanted to bring Kasey Kahne to meet them and for them to see the show car,” assistant superintendent Duane Barber said. “Very few school districts are privileged enough to have construction companies that go out of their way to bring NASCAR drivers.”

Kahne’s love for visiting children and students began when he started the Kasey Kahne Foundation, a charity that raises money for chronically ill children and their families, in 2005. Since then, he has made appearances at schools across America approximately 10-15 times a year.

“Helping the youth is what it’s all about,” WRL Contractors, Ltd. owner Bob Leavine said. “We knew that we wanted to bring Kasey to a school in this area, and we decided on Whitehouse with all of the support and work they have given us. We enjoy doing things like this because our job directly helps the students.”